Balmain x Barbie – Not Just Your Traditional Collaboration – Intellectual Property

Barbie and Balmain recently launched a new 50 piece
ready-to-wear collection. This is not the first time that Barbie
has collaborated with a fashion brand, with the first designer to
dress Barbie being Oscar de la Renta, but what is interesting here
is that this collaboration also sees the two brands come together
to launch a series of NFTs. 

Rather than these being digital versions of the ready-to-wear
collection, these NFTs will be Balmain-clad Barbie and Ken avatars
and the winners of these exclusive NFTs will receive a matching
Barbie-sized Balmain outfit. 

I suspect we are likely to see more collaborations in the
fashion world that span across both the real and digital worlds,
and this is a prime example of how luxury fashion and iconic brands
can come together to produce a digital collection that remains
authentic to both brands.

From a trade mark perspective, it seems that neither brand has
as yet applied to protect their trade mark in respect of NFTs or
digital fashion, but we are seeing an increasing number of brands
choosing to do so, especially following their regular trade mark
portfolio review. 

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